The Renaissance Singers

The Renaissance Singers are a London-based chamber choir with deep roots in the early music world, founded in **1944** by organist and choirmaster **Michael Howard** as the performing arm of the Renaissance Society. From the start they were pioneers, helping kick‑start the post-war revival of **Renaissance sacred polyphony** and what became known as the early music movement, giving their first concert in June 1944 at St Marylebone Parish Church and soon becoming regulars on radio broadcasts. In those early years they often sang from hand‑copied parts prepared by leading scholars such as Bruno Turner, who later became the choir’s president.

After a pause in activity, the group was reborn in **1992** under Michael Procter as a specialist chamber choir, and since then they’ve built a reputation as one of the finest **amateur early‑music choirs** in the UK, with concerts and workshops centred in London plus tours across Europe, including France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Italy and Scandinavia. The baton passed to Edward Wickham in 1995, JanJoost van Elburg in 2005, and current musical director **David Allinson** in 2009, under whom they’ve continued to explore Renaissance repertoire in depth, from well‑known names like Byrd to more rediscovered gems such as Vivanco’s *Missa pro defunctis*.

Genres

Celtic

Christmas

Classical

Chamber Music

Choral

Early Music

Renaissance

Sacred Music

Liturgical Music

Polyphony

Latest Release

Vivanco: Missa pro defunctis & Motets

The Renaissance Singers•

David Allinson

Album - 18 Tracks - Released January 9, 2026